


Crimson

by threefourtango



Series: Bird With A Broken Wing [2]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:55:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26686261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/threefourtango/pseuds/threefourtango
Summary: Magpie has slain the Taken King, proven herself to her friends and the Vanguard. And to Lord Shaxx. But there's more to life in the Tower than fighting - and there are some doubts that can't be overcome with a blade.
Relationships: Shaxx (Destiny)/Original Character(s)
Series: Bird With A Broken Wing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1119465
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Remember me?
> 
> I was absolutely FLOORED by how many people liked Bird With A Broken Wing. Life/illness/various other things have railroaded me recently and prevented me from carrying the series on, but a global pandemic gives you a lot of time to sit about and write when you've sorted your whole life out.
> 
> I wrote most of this before I'd finished BWABW (the last section in particular) and I always planned to post it on Valentines' Day, but I've missed it for the past couple of years and if I want to write the next big installment it's going to have to go up now! Pretend it's February. Shout THIS IS WHAT LOVE SOUNDS LIKE at your partner/parents/friend/pet.
> 
> (Definitely helps to read the previous installment in the series before tackling this, but people REALLY enjoyed it. Promise!

**FEBRUARY, YG 3**

The winter sun had barely broken the skyline of the Last City when Magpie stepped into the Tower courtyard. Blearily, she yawned until her jaw clicked.

And froze with her mouth open. Every single surface she could see was covered in red.

“Petals,” Ghost informed her when she didn’t ask.

_"Petals?"_

"So it seems."

Nobody else in the Plaza seemed to be in the least bit perturbed as the petals fluttered around their feet like crimson snow. Magpie gingerly picked her way through the scattered piles, gawping at the flags and flower garlands strung above her head. Even the entrance to the Hall of Guardians was bedecked in red.

 _The Hall of Guardians._ Her insides began to wrestle with themselves.

"Don't look at my vitals," she muttered to Ghost, wiping her palms on her thighs.

"As you wish," it replied knowingly

In the darkness of the stairway she practised a few nonchalant smiles until a passing Titan looked at her as though she'd lost her mind. She stuck her tongue out at his retreating back, before taking a deep breath and wandering casually into the Hall.

Her first response when she saw Nav and Kerryn standing next to Shaxx was crashing disappointment. Guiltily she attempted to arrange her expression into something neutral.

“I have questions.” She announced.

“Crimson Days,” Shaxx replied without looking up.

“Illuminating,” she said drily. “What’s Crimson Days? And why are you looking at me like that?” she added as Nav smirked.

“Yes, I’d like to know that as well.” Shaxx said. “You two have been standing here wasting my time for nearly half an hour. What are you up to?”

“Nothing,” Kerryn said in a voice that clearly meant _something_. “Tell her about Crimson Days.”

Shaxx looked affronted. Magpie hid her grin.

“Celebrate the bonds between Guardians who fight together," he grunted. "Which we can all do every day in the Crucible. Why we need this mess everywhere and a _Doubles_ event is beyond me – “

He stopped abruptly as Kerryn and Nav rounded on him, thunderstruck.

“You let Eva Levante set up Crimson Doubles and you didn’t catch on?” Kerryn said incredulously. “Teams of two, rose petals all over the Tower – “

“Oh _that’s_ why those are there?” Magpie interrupted. “I thought we’d been attacked in the night by a sentient Arcology.”

“You two are perfect for each other.” Nav said delightedly. “You’re both completely clueless.”

“What the f – in fact, give me a minute. I need to handle this.” He stalked over to the Crucible console and slammed an enormous finger onto the comms button.

“What do you mean you can’t concentrate when I’m yelling? _Relax!"_

Magpie giggled and swallowed loudly in an attempt to hide it. Beside her, Kerryn became heavily invested in vigorously wiping something from her boot, and Nav began to mutter the moons of Saturn under his breath in a quavering voice.

“Seriously though, what are you doing?” Kerryn asked when Shaxx had released the button.

“Overseeing my Crucible, Warlock,” He said irritably. “What are _you_ doing?”

“That’s a very good -” Magpie began, before she saw the enormous grin spreading across Nav’s face.

“I really thought you were _joking!_ ” He said. “I thought it was some ruse to get rid of us so you and Magpie could – “

“Believe me, Hunter, if I knew how to get rid of you I’d have managed it about thirty seconds after you came in,” Shaxx snapped, voice echoing around the Hall. “Do you really think the forces of Darkness are – “

“Okay, okay,” Kerryn said hurriedly; Ikora was looking curiously at them from the Vanguard hall. “Not on your watch, I get it. We’re going. Come on, Fireteam.”

Magpie looked desperately over her shoulder as a chortling Nav yanked her out of the Hall, but Shaxx had turned to the Console, back rod-straight and shoulders squared.

* * *

The moment they emerged into the Plaza Nav roared with laughter and thumped Magpie between the shoulders, sending her stumbling into Kerryn.

“What was that for?” She said indignantly.

“I knew Shaxx was stone cold, but to completely miss the point of Crimson Days –“

“I don’t know what the point is either,” Magpie said. “Why would you have teams of two in the Crucible when we run in threes in the field?”

“Yeah, well, we can excuse your ignorance.” Nav said cheerfully. “It’s your first time. Shaxx is either lying or he’s the dumbest Titan in the Tower.”

“Don’t worry, he’s probably lying,” Kerryn reassured her. “I always thought he had quite a romantic soul. I’ve heard him quoting Shakespeare to the – “

“Lying about what?” Magpie said irritably. “Look, if one of you doesn’t tell me what’s going on I’m going to push you both off back of the Hangar.”

“What are we talking about?”

All three of them jumped; Magpie caught herself with her hand on her holster.

“I’m going to put bells on you, like a cat,” Nav grumbled. “Since when were Titans so sneaky?”

“Sorry,” Braco said meekly. “What are we talking about, though? I like romance.”

This didn’t surprise Magpie. Cayde had told her once that Titans either spent their free time drinking and punching or reading poetry to themselves in the mirror wearing soft scarves. It didn’t take a Warlock to work out which camp Braco fell into.

“Which one is Shaxx?” She’d asked. Cayde had simply given her a knowing look. She wasn’t sure if he knew something she didn’t or if he’d simply noticed her casually trying to find any excuse to talk about the Crucible handler.

Now that things had…developed, she found talking about him made her feel rather hot in the face.

“Are we going out on patrols or not?” She said irritably, hoping nobody had noticed the flush in her cheeks. Nav laughed.

“Don’t think you can change the subject just like that, Nightcrawler,” He said cheerfully, throwing an arm around her shoulders. “I would have thought this was right up your street now, anyway.”

“Why?”

“What, why would a festival of romance be of interest to someone who’s newly snuggled up to the most eligible Crucible handler in the Tower?”

Magpie was sure she’d gone a similar colour to the rose petals.

“We don’t – I’m not – I don’t think it’s – “

“Leave her alone, Nav.” Kerryn said, but there was a glint in her eye. “It’s none of our business if Magpie wants to go onto the balcony every night and kiss the face off him – “

“I haven’t kissed him!” Magpie interrupted, mortified.

All three of her friends stopped abruptly, Kerryn’s Ghost knocking into the back of her armour with a loud clang.

“You haven’t _kissed_ him?” Kerryn said incredulously; to Magpie’s horror she saw several heads turning to look curiously in their direction.

“Can you keep your voice down?” She hissed.

“You really haven’t kissed?” Braco asked, eyes as wide as dinner plates. “But it’s been a nearly a month since the Dreadnaught!”

“Suppose it’s hard to kiss someone if you never take your helmet off,” Nav said with a smirk.

“I’ve seen him without his helmet,” Magpie said without thinking, and promptly regretted it when all three Guardians turned to her with expressions of glee.

“What does he look like?” Nav demanded. “No, wait, don’t tell me – Kerryn, a thousand Glimmer says he’s got a cat face and two different coloured eyes.”

“Shut up Nav, that’s not important.” Kerryn said impatiently. “You got back from the Dreadnaught _three weeks ago_ and you haven’t kissed him yet?”

“Why are you so interested?” Magpie said indignantly. “It’s not like you. Usually Nav’s the one bouncing around like he’s managed to switch off the gravity regulator.”

“Rude, but not untrue,” Nav interjected, blowing the hair out of his eyes. “But our Kerryn is a romantic at heart. She’s a Warlock. It’s all the books. Why haven’t you kissed him, anyway? I thought you were in l -”

“Thank you for your interest,” Magpie said loudly. “Don’t we have work to do?”

Nav looked as though he wanted to say more, but Kerryn shot him a warning look. Braco looked nervously between them.

“Magpie’s right,” Kerryn said. “Moon patrols. Meet you in the Hangar in half an hour. Nav, if you so much as speak to Shaxx before that I'll tell him to let the Warlocks use you for Nova Bomb drills.”

Nav dragged his eyes from the entrance to the Hall of Guardians and grinned guiltily at Magpie before sloping off in the direction of the Quarters, Braco following. Magpie watched them go, trying to ignore the heavy, ominous weight that had settled in her gut.

* * *

Magpie’s breath fogged up one of the tiny side windows as Kerryn took the ship into orbit. No matter how many times she flew, there was a joy that never dissipated in watching everything shrink down, lines and shapes she'd once survived in, green and blue and white.

Usually it was enough to clear her mind and hone her focus, ready and razor-sharp for whatever she was to face. This time, as much as she tried to think of the Hive and the mission brief, her head kept drifting.

To the Hall of Guardians. To a voice in her ear as she ran circuits of Crucible arenas. To the cool evening air on starlit balconies, trying to keep her voice steady, feeling the hair on her arms stand on end whenever he shifted next to her, equally hoping and dreading that he might turn and –

“Are you OK?”

Magpie started and clutched the arms of her seat, glaring at her Ghost.

“Sorry,” it said meekly. "What's troubling you, Guardian?"

Hesitantly, she looked past Ghost to where Kerryn was at the controls. Nav was nowhere to be seen.

“This is normal, isn’t it?” She said to Ghost.

“Currently velocity X, estimated escape velocity X, I don’t foresee any – “

“Not _this_ ,” she hissed. “The fact that Shaxx and I haven’t -”

With an enormous clatter Nav appeared from the back of the ship, arms laden with boxes of ammo. He wiggled his eyebrows and smirked as he threw himself down in the co-pilots seat and started hauling bullets out.

“You could ask your friends,” Ghost suggested. “They seem to know quite a lot about it.”

Magpie breathed out slowly, making the loose bits of hair over her forehead flutter, and checked surreptitiously over her shoulder to make sure Nav was still occupied.

“Because I don’t know what this is,” she whispered. “I spent all those years in the Wilds hardly seeing another living soul. I’ve never felt like this before. Every time I see him I feel like you’ve brought me back, even though I haven’t died. I don’t even have to _see_ him. It’s like an electric shock whenever someone says his name. You have no idea how hard I have to try not to force him into conversations just so I can feel it.”

Ghost looked at her unblinkingly.

“I’m a bot,” It said. “I can tell you any amount of technical or historical or theoretical information. I’m not sure I can tell you about human relationships.”

“But I don’t know anything about them either,” Magpie said in dismay. “And I don’t want anyone to think I’m stupid, especially not Shaxx. People still look down on me, even after Oryx. I don't want to remind anyone that I was a savage from outside the walls, especially Shaxx."

“You’re not a savage, Magpie,” Ghost said gently. “Every Guardian in the Tower came into this life knowing nothing. You’re not as different as you think.”

“So why do I _feel_ so different?” She said glumly.

“Because who you were is who you are,” Ghost said gently. “Nobody else has that knowledge. It’s a cursed and blessed thing at the same time.”

“Blessed?” Magpie said sardonically

“Yes,” Ghost said. “Nav and Kerryn could have been world leaders, artists, parents, lovers…they could have been anything. They’ll never know. Their entire existence has been rewritten. But you’ve held onto yours. You’re not like any other Guardian, but you’ve got a gift that’s so precious nobody else can appreciate it.”

“That doesn’t exactly help with my current situation though, does it?” She said wryly.

Ghost chuckled. “You know when I say Guardians have no memory of their life before, I mean it. They don’t spring up with knowledge of how to _shoot_ properly, never mind kiss. In that respect, you’re not really different.”

"Really," Magpie said mulishly. Ghost whirred and clicked, but said nothing.

She sighed and looked out of the window as the Earth shrank away, space black and limitless around it. And something else, something she was too scared to acknowledge, running hot and cold in her blood. It made her want to run through the Wilds until the air left her lungs.

It made her never want to leave his side.


	2. Chapter 2

Magpie hated the Moon.

It was perhaps a little on the nose to say that it had no atmosphere, but it was true. Venus and Io were beautiful. Mars was impressive, towering red hills as far as the eye could see.  The Moon was dark, flat and industrial.

Depressing.

She kicked a rock into a crater, where it threw up a cloud of grey dust. There were no Hive to be seen, and the eerie silence – in fact it was less than silence, it was  _ nothing  _ – left her constantly on edge.

“Nothing here,” she muttered to Ghost as she scanned the horizon. “Let me know if you –“

“Seriously though, Magpie.” Nav said loudly through the comms, making her jump and float briefly above the surface. “Everyone in the Tower is talking about it. I can’t believe you haven’t -”

“Don’t  _ do _ that, Nav!” She said indignantly. “And what do you mean everyone in the Tower is talking about it? Talking about what?”

“You and Shaxx,” Nav said. Magpie could hear his smug grin in his voice. “Do you have any idea how big a deal it is?”

Her palms were starting to feel sticky under her gloves.

“It’s not a big deal,” she squeaked. “Why would it be a big deal? I’m only...we’re just -”

“You’re  _ just _ spending an awful lot of time with the Crucible handler, a man who’s usually about as laid-back as a landmine and is more likely to drive Guardians to tears than make eyes at them. Of course people are going to -”

“Nav!” Kerryn's voice cut across them. “We’re on patrol. Can you focus for five minutes before you get us all blown up?”

Before Nav could respond the shriek of a Wizard pierced the oppressive stillness.

“Let’s go!” barked Kerryn. Magpie was already running.

“I’ve never been so happy to have the Hive show up,” she muttered to Ghost as she tugged her rifle from her back.

* * *

The black mist that accompanied the Wizard was thick and consuming. Even with the light from her Ghost Magpie could barely see her hand in front of her face, let alone anything solid to aim at. 

“Three, maybe four Acolytes and a whole pack of Thrall,” Nav shouted into the comms as the ominous green light flickered and jerked in the darkness. Magpie blindly thrust out with her elbow and felt the sickening crack as she connected with Hive skull.

“And the Wizard?” She asked.

“Just one, I think. If we can clear this quickly we can prevent a mass spawn.”

“Easier said than done,” Magpie muttered as she peered through the darkness. In truth she was more afraid of the Thrall; after fighting Oryx the Wizards seemed tiny and cumbersome, but the Thrall had numbers over strength and could overwhelm Guardians from all angles. There wasn’t a nice way to die, but being swarmed by a shrieking, frenzied mob until the breath left your lungs was particularly horrible…

“Nightcrawler! You there?”

Kerryn’s voice jolted her out of her thoughts. Blinking, she looked frantically around for the glow of the Wizard, shooting orbs of Hive energy into the murk. Pinpricks of Ghost light on either side of her were the only sign she had of her Fireteam’s whereabouts. Readying her rifle, she took an educated guess and pulled the trigger into the dark, feeling the familiar rattle of the recoil in her shoulders.

She could tell she’d hit her mark from the way the sudden halo of green light, if not from the furious noise. As the Wizard roared into her line of sight with a dreadful screech she ducked and rolled sideways, the dust from the surface doing nothing for her visibility.

“I can’t see!” She barked into the comms. “Take it!”

A bright light suddenly flashed through the darkness, overwhelming their surroundings and making Magpie stumble back with an arm over her eyes.

“Ghost! Wind it in!”

“That’s not me,” Ghost said urgently in her ear. “It’s –“

A glowing figure suddenly loomed over them with an empty, rattling noise. Magpie struck out with a yell of fright. Her fist made contact with a brittle sphere that disintegrated immediately, spilling a deep, sticky coldness over her hand and arm.

The sound of the battle briefly faded away to a tinny, ringing noise, before there was a dreadful crack, a burst of white, and everything ended.

* * *

_ up _

_...uardian _

_ eyes up guardian _

The air rushed into Magpie’s lungs with a force that nearly lifted her off the ground.

“What happened? Where’s the Wizard? What – “

“Dead,” Kerryn reassured her. “Nav pulled his Golden Gun after you disorientated it. We didn’t realise you’d rolled right into a pack of exploders.”

“A pack of what?”

“Exploding Thralls,” Nav explained.

“ _ Exploding _ \- “

“Thralls, yeah.” He said with a grin. “Because obviously regular Thralls weren’t enough. I thought you’d have met them on the Dreadnaught. I’d have told you about them if I knew.”

“It was mostly Taken,” Magpie said, adjusting her helmet. “None of those cursed things.

Kerryn let out a shout of laughter as she hauled Magpie to her feet. “Cursed Thralls! I like that. Might see if we can get that into official terminology.”

Magpie grimaced as she checked her helmet for damage. “Thanks,” she said. “What’s next?”

“Are you nervous about kissing?” Nav said immediately.

“Oh for the love of -”

“You don’t have to be,” he said seriously. “Honestly. I know people are worried about being bad at it, but it’s _really_ hard to be bad at it.”

“How would you know?” Kerryn snorted. “How many people have you kissed?”

“A gentleman never tells,” he said primly. 

Magpie chewed her lip, remembering her conversation with Ghost. What was she nervous about, exactly? Kissing - well, she supposed she was. She tried to imagine herself moving to kiss Shaxx and found that her insides lurched upwards unpleasantly.  But even more than self-consciousness about her complete lack of experience, there was a much bigger problem, one that made her lungs tighten until her helmet felt claustrophobic.

Magpie took a deep, rattling breath and looked towards Earth, hanging radiant in the sky. Out of the corner of her eye she saw her Fireteam waiting expectantly.

“I don’t know if he wants to kiss me,” she said in a small voice, and to her horror she felt her throat thickening.  _ Don’t cry on the Moon, not in front of Kerryn and Nav _

“Eh?” Nav said, sounding completely nonplussed.

“Well how do you know?” She said, with an edge of hysteria in her voice. “What should I do? Meet him on the balcony and say ‘okay let’s do it?’”

“No, don’t do that,” Kerryn said hurriedly. 

“What, then?”

Kerryn and Nav looked at each other. Magpie felt her heart sink into her boots.

"Let's walk," Kerryn said finally. "We're not done with patrols yet."

Gloomily, Magpie trudged behind as they set off, trying not to audibly sniff on the comms. The opressive silence had returned to their surroundings in the wake of the Wizard's appearance.

“What do you talk about when you’re out on the balcony?” Kerryn said sunddenly. Magpie blinked, taken aback.

“Just...things, I suppose.” She said. “The Crucible - “

“Obviously,” interjected Nav.

“ - weapons, what’s going on in the City, what’s going on in the field. He asks for updates a lot.”

“Nothing else?”

“Like what?”

“Well, like...I don’t know, feelings and stuff,” Kerryn said. Magpie heard Nav snort gently and knew what was amusing him; she supposed the idea of Shaxx taking a break from roaring at Crucible competitors to buck their ideas up to talk about his emotions was a little incongruous.

But then she had the memory of her small hand in his, of the way his eyes looked when he smiled at some flippant comment she had made -

“You could try and steer the conversation around to something a bit more...sensitive,” Kerryn suggested. “He’s not exactly going to be in the mood if he’s talking about what’s going on in Bannerfall -”

“Are you sure?” Nav grinned. “You’ve heard the man, I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how he gets his rocks off.”

"She wants him to kiss her, Nav, not punch her. She has to -"  


"I _am_ here, you know." Magpie interrupted irritably.

“Of course you are,” Nav reassured her. “Now forget everything Kerryn said.  Shaxx probably isn’t going to lay down a little carpet of petals and recite poetry for you. I know he’s into Shakespeare and stuff but he's just...not.  


Magpie felt as though he'd hit her in the gut with the butt of his rifle.

"What are you saying?"  


“Be upfront,” Nav said bluntly. “Rock up to his desk and lean all over it. Flutter your eyelashes a bit. Get as close to him as you feel is socially acceptable when you’re talking to him.”

“What’s that going to achieve?” Magpie asked, appalled. 

“It’ll work him up into a frothing mess and by the time you meet him he’ll be so consumed with desire he’ll be all over you before you can say ‘heavy ammo available’”.

“Bloody hell, Nav,” Kerryn said, sounding mortified. “You can’t do  _ that _ .”

“Why not?”

“Nav, how many people have you kissed?” Magpie interjected.

“Well, there was that Warlock just after The Dawning -”

Kerryn giggled. “That doesn’t count, he dropped some line on you at the bar and you melted onto the floor! How many have you kissed that you’ve instigated?”

“I don’t see how that’s relevant,” Nav sniffed.

“Of course it’s relevant, you idiot! Honestly, Magpie would be better off asking the Postmaster for advice.”

Magpie thrust her fingers into the rim of her helmet, shutting off the comms as they bickered. Ghost looked at her quizically.

"Well, I thought that was good advice.  I told you you should have asked your friends.” It said.  


“Were you listening at all to that conversation?” Magpie said incredulously. “How was that helpful?”

“Were  _ you  _ listening? It proves that nobody really knows what they’re doing. And there’s no one way to deal with the situation.”

“Wow, you’re right. That’s absolutely the problem solved.” Magpie said.  If Ghost picked up on the sarcasm, it didn’t let on.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! And all the kudos. I've got another one shot in the works before I drop the second big fic of BWABW. I can't wait for you to read it. 
> 
> Reviews welcome, thank u again x

Magpie felt no better by the time they made it back to the Tower that evening, despite vehemently channelling most of her frustrations onto an unfortunate Knight. 

“Are we going to The Silver?” Nav said hopefully as they stepped into the Plaza, tugging his helmet off and doing his best to flatten his thick hair.

“I’m in. Magpie?”

“No thanks,” she mumbled. The sight of the petals swirling on the evening breeze in the Plaza was doing absolutely nothing for her spirits.  


“Come on,” Nav wheedled. “It’s not dark yet, so you won’t miss your appointment to familiarise yourself with the back of lover boy’s teeth. And  I promise you, nobody cares if you haven’t kissed -”

“Well well.”

Magpie jumped as a heavy arm thumped down around her shoulders. Beside her,  Nav swore under his breath.

“Go away Gianna, we’re busy,” Kerryn said impatiently as she tugged Magpie’s elbow, but the Titan simply sidestepped so she was blocking their path.

“Really?” she said smugly. “Bet you wish you were  _ busy _ , don’t you Magpie?”

“Why are you here?” Magpie bit back. “They run out of target frames for the Crucible?”

“Couldn’t find anyone to team with you for Crimson Doubles?” Nav smirked.

“Who says I haven’t asked Shaxx?”  


The air promptly left their corner of the Tower. Magpie gawped, lost for words.  


“You haven’t,”  Kerryn snorted. 

“Would you put money on it, Warlock?”

Gianna ran a hand through her hair haughtily. Magpie had never compared them before - she was usually paying more attention to a Titan's fists than the rest of them - but she was suddenly very aware of the way the late afternoon light reflecting on the Traveller made her hair look almost silver.

She raised a hand to her messy braids, tugging the loose ends of her hair through her fingers.

“What’s your point?” She said 

“You’re not the only one with an interest in Titans, you know,” Gianna sneered. “People have been talking about Shaxx for years. Every time the Crimson Days comes round he’s the only one unmoved. Even Ikora and Zavala loosen up a little. You’re not the first  _ Guardian - “  _ She let the word hang, mocking, in the air between them “ - to take a fancy to him.”

Magpie was suddenly seized by the idea that the only way to stop herself from throwing up was to punch Gianna in the mouth. She stuffed her hands in her belt just in case.

“Get lost, Gianna,” Kerryn said wearily. “Haven’t you got something useful to do? I didn’t think Titans made their name by standing around being catty.”

“I didn’t think Warlocks made their name by teaching Nightcrawlers how to deal with their emotions,” Gianna shot back. "But you're right. I've got some things to sort out in the Cosmodrome. Enjoy your evening," she added sweetly to Magpie, before she shoved past them into the Hangar.

"She's lying," Nav said the moment she disappeared from sight. "Complete nonsense. As if Shaxx has a crowd of twittering Guardians around him every year. Honestly, Magpie. I think you're the only person he doesn't want to pummel on sight. He's never spent time with anyone outside of when he absolutely has to…" 

Magpie nodded, but she wasn't listening. Her throat was beginning to burn; the memory of crisp medbay sheets and her heart in her throat as her hand disappeared in Shaxx’s enormous fist, of pride in his voice as he lifted her, weak of body and Light, from the ground in the Dreadnaught...  


“As much as I hate to interrupt,” Ghost said suddenly. “I’ve just received an urgent communication. Magpie, you’re needed to help train a new batch of Hunters at Bannerfall.”

“What, now?” Nav said skeptically. 

"Right now."

Magpie looked blankly at them.

“Just me?”

“Just you.”

“Why is that  _ urgent _ ?” She asked blankly. “The sun’s going down. Why do these new Hunters have to be trained tonight?” 

Kerryn and Nav looked at each other, eyebrows raised. 

“I’m just the messenger,” Ghost said defensively. 

“Can’t Nav go?” Magpie said. “I don’t feel like it.”

“You were asked for specifically.”

“I bet she was,” she heard Nav mutter, and then a thud and a grunt as Kerryn presumably kicked him. Magpie huffed and checked her pockets and holster.  


“Fine, let’s get it over with. Enjoy The Silver. I’ll see you later.” 

She didn’t wait to see the looks on their faces before heading back to the ship. 

* * *

To Magpie’s surprise, there was nobody in Bannerfall Courtyard when she materialised. She drew her rifle suspiciously and looked around.

“What’s the occasion, then? If Gianna’s decided she’s done with avoiding me and wants to fight, tell her Ghost I’m not interested.” She said.

“It’s not Gianna.”

“How do you -”

"Because I said so.”

It was only sheer willpower that stopped her firing the gun at Shaxx out of shock as he crossed the stone slabs behind her, the uneven shuffle of his steps ringing on the courtyard walls.

“What’re you doing here?” She blurted out.

“This is my arena, Guardian.” He said, affronted. “I can go where I please.”

“Yeah, course.” Magpie lowered the gun uneasily. “What am  _ I _ doing here?”

“I summoned you.”

In spite of the nerves that had suddenly crept into her chest, Magpie rolled her eyes. “Yes, but why?”

“Because,” he said, fumbling with his helmet. “I am trying to get rid of your damn Fireteam for ten minutes.”

He seemed to be having uncharacteristic difficulty, she noticed curiously. Just as she was about to offer him a hand, he managed to tug it off.

She promptly forgot how to breathe.

Shaxx's face was drawn and his stance was raw intensity. He might have been ready to step onto a battlefield, if it wasn't for his eyes. They were heated, darker than she'd ever seen them before. She couldn't look away, even as her heartbeat thundered in her ears.  


He didn't look away either.

“Why did you want to get rid of Kerryn and Nav?” Magpie whispered, dry mouthed, as he crossed the rest of the distance between them.

"Because,” he said in a husky voice that made gooseflesh rise on her scalp. “When they’re loitering like Dregs every waking minute it's difficult to do this.”

Magpie only realised he’d removed his gloves when she started at his warm palm against her cheek. She thought she’d gotten used to how enormous he was compared to most Guardians, but in that moment she felt  _ tiny _ .

Fragile. 

She was shaking. He'd noticed too, his expression shifting, concern appearing in his endless eyes.

“Magpie – “

“No, please,” she whispered, unsure whether it was all too much or not enough.

Shaxx hesitated, looking for something in her, and clearly found it because his lips met hers and time stopped.

She had a sudden, ridiculous urge to weep; her chest became a black hole, collapsing in on itself, pulling in all the feelings she’d had and replacing them with a kind of euphoria. She had no idea what to do with her hands, so she awkwardly let them rest on his armour, just above his waist. His mouth was soft and wet and firm and it suddenly didn’t seem to matter that she’d never done this before, she followed the pressure of his lips until she was dimly aware of the fact that she was clutching him to stop her trembling legs from giving way.  


Without thinking she touched her tongue to his lips and was thrilled when he groaned and parted them. _How can a man who does so much punching be so gentle?_ She thought wildly, hysterically. She wanted to laugh. She wanted to cry.  


She wanted to stay with him forever.

She whimpered when Shaxx eventually pulled away, but the tingle that shot up her spine when she saw how uneven his breathing was made up for it. He rested his forehead on hers, noses touching, and let his hands run from her face down to her waist. She shuddered at the feel of his fingertips on her ribs, even through her armour.  


“We should lose my Fireteam more often,” she murmured. He made a deep, shuddering noise that thrilled her and kissed her again.

When he released her, panting, Magpie attempted to speak and only managed a bnreathless giggle. He gave her a smile that reached his eyes.

_ She wouldn't say it. Not yet. But she felt it. _

“How long did you say you were trying to lose them for?” She said when she’d managed to compose herself.  


“Ten minutes.”

“But…if they think I'm training Hunters, we can be as long as we like. Right?”

Shaxx raised an eyebrow.

“Unless I’m going to be late for saving the world again?” she added.

“The world can wait for once,” he said, pulling her to him roughly.

His lips met hers again, and Magpie had to agree.


End file.
